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Zoos and animal parks in Amman

August 23, 2016

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My little one loves animals, she is now 15 months of age and she interacts daily with our domestic cat, she feeds the stray cats that hang around in our garden, visits her grandmother’s turtles on Fridays (granny has 11 of them!), and doesn’t seem to mind dogs either.

Lately she has shown much more interest beyond cats and dogs, while watching TV she started clapping when horses jumped fences and has been going through her animal books more often than ever, so i figured my best bet would be a family outing to the nearest zoo. This blog will have a recap of our visits to various zoos. I will keep this post updated as we explore more zoos and animal parks.

Now seeing as we live in Amman, I wasn’t sure what to expect, I know of one Zoo called Ghamadan Park and while I don’t approve of the animal conditions at all, I figured I really didn’t have a choice.

Baby Hana watching the bear at Ghamadan Zoo

Name: Ghamadan Zoo

Location: Airport Road inside the Amman National Park

Phone Number: (06) 413 3399

Entrance Fees: 1 JD for Adults and children, Free for children under the age of 3

Overall, the zoo has been neglected for years at a time, the cement pathways are botched up and the zoo has a distinct smell that tells you that the cages are not well maintained at all. The animals as the case with other zoos in Jordan are not as active, the summer heat is definitely a factor. They used to have a beautiful black jaguar a few years back, but it has passed due to age.

The animal selection we’ve seen during our visit includes three ponies, two bears, husky dogs (which in my humble opinion are better off being adopted than in a cage at the zoo), tigers who were fast asleep during our entire visit, monkeys, and deer’s There is also a wide selection of different birds.

While my overall opinion of the zoo is not that great, I was happy to see that every single cage had water supply for the animals! While some lions were sleeping, others were playing around, and one even gave us an impressive roar while munching on a big chunk of meat. The ponies had a good area to run around, so did the deer’s and ostriches.

The zoo does have games and entertainment but I wouldn’t recommend anyone to take the rides, not quite sure how well maintained they are, as they look old and rusty. The staff is very polite and helpful. A kiosk is available on site for tea/coffee and water.

Lion at the Ghamadan Zoo

Name: Jordan Zoo

Location: Yadoudeh – take the Madaba Bridge but don’t turn as if you’re heading back to IKEA, instead go straight and take the first U-Turn, zoo will be on your right hand side

Phone Number:

Entrance Fees: 1 JD for Adults and children, Free for children under the age of 3

Baby Hana at Jordan Zoo

Well, the Jordan Zoo is at least better than the Ghamadan Zoo, it doesn’t smell and it has properly paved grounds. I did specially enjoy the fact that they had benches in front of each cage which are also shaded. However, the animals are also in a very poor condition. Lots of birds and many species of lions, a few tigers, deer’s, lamas, monkeys, as well as reptiles which I have avoided at all expenses.

The wolves are too sad to belong in the zoo, they look like harmless dogs, and the hyenas have no interest in moving. While some of the cages are huge, others are too small for the size of the animals that are withheld. It would be nice to have stones, logs, trees, and a fresh supply of water going on in these cages.

The zoo has many games and entertainment, some looked old, and some looked ok to play with, at least the small ones that require coins to be activated.

Several kiosks are available for beverages and treats for the children, as well as numerous booths with toys and crafts.

Jordan Zoo

Jordan Zoo

While I do not approve of the zoos that we have visited because the conditions of the animals is beyond unacceptable, there is currently no alternative, and I wish we could find a way to give these animals a better life. 1 JD is an affordable entrance fee, how about making it 1 JD and 500 piasters? Perhaps this minimal increase could aid in bringing in more supplies? After all, while the entrance fees are minimal, managing a zoo could be quite costly, as animals do need a proper environment and need to be well fed.

However, I do see this as an opportunity to exposing my child to new things. We read about different animals in books, watch them as cartoons on TV, and even see them in actual TV, but making things familiar in real life is always different.

While visiting different cages I would say “Say hello to the Lion” and “Say hello to the “Tiger”, in hopes that one day she would be able to make the connection between the word and the picture. Of course that doesn’t happen overnight, but you will be surprised at home children process information. While she has seen horses in books and on TV, the excitement over seeing a real horse was beyond any words that i can put in writing.

I think I have enjoyed the park more than my little one who wasn’t impressed with the birds. She did however enjoy the ducks, must’ve been the water. The park includes numerous species including but not limited to parrots, peacocks, turkeys, geese, ducks, and more, as well as a monkey. With a nicely shaded area, a huge play area, and being well maintained and clean, I think we will be coming again. I would classify it as a park/bird zoo.

Prince Hashem Bird Park

Prince Hashem Bird Park

This blog post is a work in progress and will be updated regularly. Stay tuned for more…

Do you have any recommendations for zoos or animal parks that we should visit? Please leave a comment and tell me about it in the comments below!

Comments

Nice thing to hear; regarding having a good zoo I mean.
The pictures are awesome. Soon she will be of age to DEMAND a second pet all of her own. Sleeping with her, feeding her, and all (of course the work is all on the parents/carers) but she will get all the fun!

Nice to hear from you again! I wouldn’t mind her having a second pet, I don’t think she enjoys Jackson that much as she is a 12-year old cat, maybe we can start with a fish? We visited the bird park yesterday, it was very nice, super clean, and had huge playground areas for the children! I’m still shocked that the entrance fees are 200 piasters, you can’t even get gum for that now adays! Check out the updated pics.

Hi Lara,
I just stumbled upon your blog by chance, and so happy that i did.. Nice articles indeed.

I actually visited the bird park with my 2.5 year old recently, he really enjoyed it, and enjoyed the play ground even more.

Regarding the other animal zoos you mentioned, we will definitely give them a visit, even though i agree on what you said about the animal conditions, but this is all we have! If you were to choose between the 2 zoos, which would you say is better?

Would be great if we can give donations or even pay some extra entrance fees to help in improving these zoos, do you happen to know who can we donate to? Perhaps we can even make an online fundraising effort for this?

Hi Bayan! Thank you for stopping by my blog, I’m glad you liked what I had to offer, and invite you to check back regularly for more.

I was going to ask the Humane Center for Animal Welfare if they could do anything regarding the animals in these zoos by providing more to them via donations? I’ll let you know for sure if it goes in the right direction…

I think you would like the Jordan Zoo more, especially since it offers a shaded area and benches, and its important for kids to walk on paved grounds, which you won’t find at the Ghamadan Zoo. Do let me know how you like it when you visit and good luck!